Machine-driving means.



v PATENTBD JAN. 1, 1907. P. B. CLARK. I

MACHINE DRIVING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.12.19Q6.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PrnficeE.C1ark.

WMM Y W Sham/we No. 840,189. PATENTBD JAN. 1, 1907.

P/E. LARK. MACHINE DRIVING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12. 1906.

3 SH E ETSSHEET 2.

[Prentice PATENTED JAN. 1, 1907;

P. E. CLARK.

MACHINE DRIVING MEANS.

. APPLICATION nun APR. 12. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

3mm Prentice E. Clark Wi mw/ THE NORRIS runes cm, wasmm zwn. u. C

3 being at the right-hand-end thereof. Fig. 2

if To .all whom it mag concern: I

PRENTICE E. CLARK, or

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

MACHINE-DRIVING MEANS- Specification of Letters Patent. l

Patented J an. 1, 1907.

.Applicationtfiled April 12, 1906. Serial No. 311.364.

B eit knownthatl, 'PRENTIOE EqCLARK,

' 'of lndianapolis, county ofxlvlarion, and State 'of- Indiana, haveinvented a certain new and useful Machine-DrivingMeans; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description thereof, refer- "ence' being had totheaccompanying drawings, in which like characters refer .to like- 10parts.

The ob ect ,of-th s invent on is to arrange means for driving one ormore machines,

I such as laundry washingmachines,so that the-machine or machines may bereadily movable to differentlocations in the factory or laundry withoutchangingthe position of the driving -means'i and said machine or drivingmeans to be automaticallyreversible. 1 In this connection afeaturej ofthe invention consists :in providing a single driving means fora numberof such' machines with individual clutches, so that one or more of saidmachines may be driven, as desired.

The full nature of the inventionwill be understood from the accompanyingdrawings and the following description and claims.

' Figure. 1 is a side elevation of a laundry washing-machinebelted upwith an over-. head drivingulley, "parts being broken away and the(rivin'g-pulley onthemachine is the same with the position of themachine ism as shown in Fig. 1, the upper part being broken away. Fig. 5

is an elevation of the driving mechanism as shown inFig. 1; parts; beingbroken away. Fig.- 6 is a section through thedriving-sha'ft on themachine with a driving-pulley in side elevation. Fig.

I vention, parts being broken aw sourceof power and carrying 7 is anend=view ofthe clutch-lever, with the clutch in sectionon the line 7 7'of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a front elevation-of'a series oflaundry washing-machinesoperated by my In- In a building-where these fl ing-machines {are set upthere overhead beam 10 with a hang a' driving-shaft 12, driven b te ler13. From this a, straight belt 1 d ga -twisted belt extend down to anddrive the washing-machines. This overhead driving means and nearly everyother driving means that is employed is located differently in differentbuildings and in a fixed position in every building; and one objectofthis invention is to provide means for transmitting power from saiddriving means whereverlocated to the washing-machine, so that thewashingmachine may be conveniently located for receiving power from saidoverhead or other driving means.

.The washing-machine shown herein consists of'a tank 16,1carriedby-suitable end frames 17, carrying the posts 18, in whichadriving-shaft 19 is mounted. This shaft drives the beater in thewashing+machine through gearing in the gear-case 20. The arrangement andconstruction of the beater I anddriving-gear are notnew and may be inany usefulform. Y

The shaft 19 is provided with. a longitudinal groove 21 and carries apinion 23, securedto it, which engages the gearing that runs the beater.It has an outwardly-extendingcollar 24 or clutch member that isinternally tapering and is frictionally en- 'gaged by a clutch member25, that is slidably mounted on the shaft by means of a key 26, fittingin the groove 21. This clutch is for the purpose of throwing the beatermechanism out of engagement with the shaft 19. A stop 27 limits theoutward movement of the clutch member 25, and it is moved by theclutch-lever 28, that is bar 29, extending outward from the casing 20,and has in connection with it a rack-bar 30, that is engaged by aspring-drawn pawl 31, pivoted on said clutch-lever, and said pawl 31 isreleased by a finger-lever 32, pivoted to said clutch-lever and theintermedi-- ate connecting-rod 33, as appears in Fig. 7. Any ordinaryclutch mechanism may be sub-- stituted for the clutch mechanism hereinshown without affecting this invention.

The driving-shaft 19 isdriven by a pulley 35, with which one of thebelts 14 and 15 is always in engagement. Said driving-wheel 36, fittingloosely in the groove 21. It may therefore be moved to any position onsaid shaft 19, so that'it canbe worked at either end orbetween the ends,as is most conis mounted slidably on the shaft 19 by a key-J fulcrumedona venient for the location of the washing-ma I able that reversingmechanism be provided whereby the direction of rotation of the beatermay be automatically-changed periodically. This is accomplished hereinby the following mechanism: One of the belts 14 is straight and theother is twisted, so that they will drive the driving-pulley 35 inopposite directions as they may be alternately shifted upon saiddriving-pulley. In Fig. 1 the straight belt is on the driving-pulley,while the twisted belt is on the left-hand idler. In Fig. 2 the twistedbelt 18 on the driving-pulley, while the straight belt is on theright-hand idler. Hence the shaft 19 and the beater mechanism will bedriven in opposite directions with the machines arranged as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, and means is provided for automatically shifting thesebelts from the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. To this end a worm 40 isloosely mounted on the shaft 19 and interlocks with the hub of therighthand idler 38, as seen in Fig. 5, so that said idler will actuatesaid worm always in the same. direction. It may be said that this idlerruns constantly, :although the belt 14 is on it only half the time, asduring the other half of the time it continues to rotate by the impetusit has gained. The worm en gages the gear-wheel 41 and turns it in thedirection indicated by the arrow. This wheel has a cam-lug 42 on oneside adapted to engage alternately the pins 43 in the ends of the bar44, that is rigidly secured to an armi45 of the shifting lever 46. 'Saidlever 46 is pivoted at 47 to an arm 48, that is adjustably mounted on arod 49 and set in the adjusted position by set-screws 50. The rod 49 isparallel with the shaft 19, as seen in Fig. 3, and lies behind themachine, extending throughout the length thereof and mounted at the endsin the frame 17. The arm 48 is adjustable in its position along with thepulleys on the shaft 19 and is fastened in its adjusted position by thesetscrews. The upper end of the lever 46 reciprocates between astationary bar and a guide bar or strap 51, secured thereto. The bar 70is secured rigidly to the arm 48. A frame 52 is slidably mounted onsaidbar 70, and it carries two belt-shifters 53 for the belt 14, and 54for the belt 15. Said belt-shifter frame 52 has an extension 55 on alongitudinally-shiftable rod 56 and is adjustably placed thereon by thesleeves 57 and setscrews 58. Said rod 56 is slidably mounted in abearing 59v on the upper end of the arm 48, and it has secured on it atubular piece 60, that has a peripheral lug 61, adapted to engage theupper end of the lever 46 in the slot 62 thereof. 1

The cam-lug 42 on the wheel41 first pushes the lever 46 and belt-shifterto the right into the position shownin Fig. 5, and then the twisted beltis in engagement with the driving-pulley35, and the straight belt is inengagement with the right-hand idler 38. The parts operate in that wayuntil by reason of the further revolution of the wheel 41 the cam-lug 42engages the pin 43 on the lower end of the rod 44 and moves saidlever'46 and belt-shifter to the left from the position shown in Fig. 5to the position shown in Fig. 1, at which time the driving-pulley isin'engagement with the belt 14 and the twisted belt is on the left-handidler. This mechanism, therefore, continuallyat very short periodsautomatically reverses the direction of movement of the shaft 19. Thereversing mechanism'is thrown out of gear by the lever 65 on the end ofthe rod 56, which turns the piece 60 on said rod so that the lug 61 willnot engage the lever 46 and said lever will work idly. The desired limitof longitudinal reciprocatory movement of the rod 56, and therefore thebelt-shifter, is obtained by the lugs 66 and 67 coming into engagementwith each other. It is proper,-however, to state that this is an oldreversal mechanism and there is nothing that is new in it by itself, andit will be understood by those skilled in the art without furtherexplanation.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the washing-machinemay be situated in the laundry in various positions with reference tothe fixed position of the overhead or driving means. To accomplish thatpurpose, the immediate driving means on the machine can be shifted toanyposition on the shaft 19, and the reversing mechanism is likewiseshifted and' adjusted in position along with the pulleys 35 and 38. Inthis machine, as shown, the shaft 19 operates as long as the shaft 12,and the clutch mechanism must be operated when it is desired to stop orstart the beater. Another feature of the invention consists in utilizingthe means herein shown for running a number of washing-ma chines tandem.The one washing-machine carrying pulleys 35 and 38- can. be locatedvThis may be done byto secure by Letters Patent, 1s

, said pulleys one of which is twisted, a belting the machine,

washing-machine that is connected with the chines may be'driven from asingle source of power and controlled by a single reversal machines arebeingoperated or not. Only one reversal mechanism is needed for thewhole series. Therefore on the second and I successive washing machinesno reversal sald pIIllOIl. 1

ch1nes,a single driving means therefor, a sep:

' matically and periodically reversing the direction of movement of saiddrivinglmeans.

driving mechanism and ,that all of said ma chines, a single shaftfordriving them, a sepmechanism, andthat each achinemay be thrown out ofoperation regardless ofthe othermawhines;v p Q What I claim asmyinvention, andidesire;

samein'to and out of operation, pulleys on said machines andlongitudinally adjustable thereon, belts for driving the same, alongitu;dinally-movable belt-shifter adjacent said pulleys, and means on themachine that car- 1. machine including alongitudinal drivjustablethereof, the middle one of which is keyed to said shaft and the othertwo being movement of said shaft. idlers, two driving-be1ts inengagement with for coupling and uncoupling the samew ith Thecombination of a plurality of maarate clutch for eachmachine to throwthe 'saidqshaft that are connected with one of,

In wltness whereof I havehereunto aflixed' 3. The combination of apluralityof ma i rles the-pulleysfor periodically operating 'said -beltshifter to reverse the direction of,

my signature in the presence of the witnesses shifter 1n engagement withbothbelts, means herein named.

actuated by one of said pulleys for operatin said belt-shifter tochange'the beltson said 7 P RK pulleys'to reverse the direction ofmovement Witnesses: of said shaft, a inion on said shaft for driv- HELENB. MGCORD, i

and a'clutch on "said shaft i N.ALLEMONG., t

